Winter gear

[MEANT 2B]

I thought I had two things I wanted to ask about but I don't remember what the second one was right now.

Do you guys normally carry a pair of camp footwear, aka in the summertime most hikers carry sandals? What is your method of avoiding getting a dry pairs of socks wet from having to put the wet boots back on? This question came up yesterday/last night on the overnighter I went on. I managed to get away without having to worry about it but I'm thinking about when you find yourself in a much more difficult/less forgiving situation which could REALLY EASILY happen.

MEANT 2B
GAME '97

[SGT Rock]

I hadn't carried camp shoes for about 10 years, then all the "you need them on a long hike" made me second guess myself, so I carried them for a while. But got rid of them.

[Slo-go'en]

Boots don't usually get very wet when hiking in snow, unless you step into a stream. If your boots do get soaking wet, you can put some plastic bread bags over your socks, but then your feet will sweat a lot, but at least they will stay warm.

Ideally, you will have winter boots which are both insulated and waterproof. For around camp, down booties are real nice.

[MEANT 2B]

I have to admit my boots do have nice slit in them right around one of the toes, hence why I have some trouble with wetness. They weren't saturated or anything like that but since I only carried one change of socks with me I didn't want to risk putting them back on. I had waited until I was ready to get into the sleeping bag before I changed socks only to find one sock missing. It was still in the backpack. DUH!!!

Now I remember what the other gear question was.

Do you guys use the same backpack for both winter and summer or do you use a bigger pack for winter? I'm finding with only two days worth of food I'm right at full capacity. If I had to take my jacket off I would nowhere to put it. I probably would have taken it off yesterday but I knew it was going to be feasible to find anyplace to put it. It doesn't seem like I'm carrying that much more equipment than I did on my thru-hike, volumewise but I must be.

I know my pack weight has dropped considerably. Started Springer in '97 at 45 pounds, 4-5 days worth of food plus water. Let Pinkham Notch later in the summer at 55 pounds. Now with 2 days worth of food I'm down to 23-25 pounds. Something doesn't seem right.

MEANT 2B
GAME '97

[SGT Rock]

I use the same pack.

[Wheeler]

I just finished a lot of cold weather hiking. I had a thick pair of wool/syn. blend socks that I kept dry, and wear them only in camp. For christmas, I received some Duck-down,R.E.I., booties. They were toasty, but got dirty,wet, easily. A friend had some by Sierra Designs that were water-proof, and had a decent sole. He swears by them, and they looked like the right ones for the job. Once again, My heavy sock's worked well. I wore them in my crocs, but you have to be pretty carefull in the snow. If you live in the snow, your boot's WILL get wet-you sweat and also your body-heat melts the snow. Stick 'em in your bag at night (inside plastic bag!),or pour hot water on them if too frozen to stomp your feet into them. Start hiking right away and your feet will warm up. I've done this in -0 temps.

[Tinker]

I hadn't carried camp shoes for about 10 years, then all the "you need them on a long hike" made me second guess myself, so I carried them for a while. But got rid of them.

If you can't hike in them, don't bother carrying them, is my personal motto. I usually don't carry extra footwear (except down booties in the middle of winter). I used to carry running shoes for use in camp. When I got bad blisters from my custom made (but not quite broken in) heavy duty boots, I hiked the next 2 days and 22 miles in my running shoes. It didn't dawn on me back then (1991) that I should have kept hiking in them and put the heavy boots away. Once the custom overpriced boots wore out (well, the soles are about 75% gone, the uppers are ok) I replaced them with lightweight leather boots, then fabric/leather boots, then low topped "trail shoes", then trail runners, and now I use either trail runners or sandals, and I find that wiping them out with a little TP and putting dry socks on makes the "need" for camp shoes an illusion.

[bigcranky]

I use the same pack. It just fits my winter bag and all my gear and food. In the summer, I can carry more food if I want.

Camp shoes: I tried going without my rubber clogs on two trips last year, to save weight. Never again. I really missed them in camp, in town, and especially on rainy days when I didn't want to put my soaking wet shoes back on.

[Alligator]

Fleece booties. Different winter pack.

[MEANT 2B]

I guess I just need to get out at colder temps to do some decent playing around. I've said for the longest time I hate it when the temperature is between 20-60. They are the hardest times to dress for. Too much and you sweat your butt off...too little you freeze your butt off.

I know last night it would have been nice to have something to change into to let the socks get a chance to warm up before I hopped into bed. I knew I also needed something on the feet though for grabbing snow to melt, setting up camp, etc. Hence why I was asking about the camp footwear. I had the nice day/night yesterday where the temperature never dropped all night it was 32-34 when I got into camp around 3PM and it stayed that way until I left camp this morning around 8:45AM. You can't ask for more unseasonable...err, unreasonable conditions than that. In more brutal conditions I can see it making an even bigger difference of wanting to get into something drier/warmer and still be able to keep yourself mobile until ready to go to bed. I did carry and put on one of two of the fleece socks that I bought recently. The other one I somehow didn't pick up out of the backpack as I was grabbing the socks and other items I wanted to take to the hammock with me. I didn't realize I had missed it until I was already sitting in the hammock changing clothes. I wasn't going to change back into the wet socks so I could put the boots back on and walk over to the shelter and grab the other sock out of my backpack. I knew the temperature wasn't going to drop much and it wouldn't be much of problem so I skipped the idea and proceeded to lay down for a nice comfortable sleep.

[take-a-knee]

I hadn't carried camp shoes for about 10 years, then all the "you need them on a long hike" made me second guess myself, so I carried them for a while. But got rid of them.

Didn't you try Gortex socks for campwear for a while with some sort of sandal? How did that work out? I thought that sounded pretty smart. You could wear the goretex socks on cold sloppy days with trail runners and use em in camp with Brawny style one ounce insole sandals.

[JAK]

I hike solo and in camp I am basically sitting on my blue foam / sleeping bag / bivy.
When I am sitting I wear dry socks. When I need to get up and doing something I take my socks off and put on my boots without socks, or go barefoot if its just a short distance. Yes, even in snow, if its a short distance. I am more concerned when cross-country skiing, because the boots are no good for hiking should I break a ski. I would have to improvise a mukluk. I've been meaning to make some light mukluks, which could also be for camp, but haven't yet. It would basically be a pair of those felt boot liners, covered with a sylnylon bootie. I should make a pair next time I'm out maybe. That would be a good project to do out there, rather than at home. Projects like that are fun, and you're in a better frame of mind.

[shelterbuilder]

Same pack. Down booties if it's REALLY cold, otherwise, I unlace my boots, stuff the laces inside, and wear the boots (unlaced) around camp. (I use the same "unlaced boot trick" in summer, too.)

[bigcranky]

Oh, yeah, I forgot we were talking about winter.

Down booties in winter. Rubber clogs the rest of the time. Down booties let me sit around camp with warm dry feet, walk out in the snow for a midnight call of nature, and add plenty of warmth inside my bag. I like booties with a cordura nylon sole, not a big rubber boot sole.

[SGT Rock]

Didn't you try Gortex socks for campwear for a while with some sort of sandal? How did that work out? I thought that sounded pretty smart. You could wear the goretex socks on cold sloppy days with trail runners and use em in camp with Brawny style one ounce insole sandals.

Never really worked out well. The first set of sandles I tried got away from me by breaking off my pack. So I got another set that were those shower shoes - never worked good with Goretex because they couldn't go between the toes.

Basically all I did is just take off my shoes at the end of the day and let them air out. I walked around camp barfoot. If I needed a little extra protection I slipped me shoes back on without tying them and walked around a little bit. I didn't keep them on all the time.

FWIW, I just never found a NEED for a second set of shoes that everyone says you have to have.